


On a Wing and a Prayer

by DoctorProfessorSong



Series: The Other Baby [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Baby Jack Kline, Castiel and Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester are Jack Kline's Parents, Cute Jack Kline, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:09:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29543571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorProfessorSong/pseuds/DoctorProfessorSong
Summary: Baby!Jack and Toddler!Jack one shots. Fluff and angst fluff.This is a canon-adjacent series of one shots in a world where Jack is reset as a baby and being raised by TFW. I am going to pick and choose canon at will and may not even be consistent between the stories. Seriously,  it's just a bunch of fluff and angst surrounding babies and toddlers.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Series: The Other Baby [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2170503
Comments: 26
Kudos: 210





	On a Wing and a Prayer

**Author's Note:**

> Toddler Jack discovers his wings. He tests them out much to his family's dismay.
> 
> This is dedicated to Cactuscas and the other Baby!Jack Truthers of Tumblr whose posts inspired this fic

Dean knows better than to think it. He KNOWS better. Things are great. Better than great. Fantastic. So he let's a breath out and releases that ever-present knot of tension from his back and he stupidly thinks: "this is nice."

What's nice is retirement. A simple life. He is bent over a 1967 Pontiac Catalina. She's beautiful. Well, she has some rust. A bit of character. That's okay. Dean will get her nice and shiny soon. But for now he is focused on getting her up and running. Rebuilding her after years of neglect. 

They are so close. She just needs a few minor adjustments and she should be running again.  _ D is gonna be so excited. _ Dean thinks.  _ Just one more . . . got it _ .

********

"D" or Danny is a local kid. Tall and gangly. All elbows and knees. He comes to Dean one afternoon, while Dean is working over a 1956 Bel Air. She's in good condition. Just a minor repair. Dean is so focused that he doesn't hear the kid come in.

Danny clears his throat and Dean looks up to see him, dark hair falling in his eyes, color rising in his face. "Excuse me, sir. I . . . ." He trails off, eyes glued to the floor. 

Dean's chest feels tight. The kid reminds him of Sam. "Yeah? What can I help you with?" He asks the kid gruffly but not unkindly. He grabs a rag and wipes grime off his hands. 

The kid looks at everything but Dean. "Um, my grandfather. He, um . . . He died a couple of months ago." The kid's features scrunch up for a moment. "See, he had this car . . . a Catalina . . . He used to drive me around in it. My dad . . . He's a good man, but complicated." The kid looks Dean in the eyes. "He and I don't always get it right and my Pops got that. He . . . ." The kid trails off.

Dean swallows, his throat tight. He wants to say a million things.  _ I get it kid. I've been there. Dad's aren't always what they should be. And we love them anyway.  _ Dean thinks of Bobby. Of the way he used to pick up the pieces. He imagines this kid finding solace in the passenger's seat of his grandfather's car.

"You need help restoring her." Dean says simply.

The kid nods but doesn't meet Dean's eyes. "I don’t have much money. But I can get a job. After school. Please. I . . . He got really sick and he couldn’t keep her up and it's all I have left of him. Dad sold everything else." The kid looks at Dean, eyes shining with tears and he sighs because of course he is going to do this. He was never not going to do this.

"Look, kid, you don't gotta . . . . Keep the money. I'll do it. It'll have to come after paying customers, but I'll get it done."

The kid's jaw hardens. "I'm not looking for charity, sir."

_ Jesus, this kid.  _ The "sir" is what gets Dean. He remembers his own father, drilling it into him. He can't take this kid's money (kid most likely can't afford him anyway), but it's clear that the kid isn't going to accept his help. 

And he gets it. Of course he gets it. The kid may remind him of Sammy with his long limbs and floppy brown hair, but Dean knows the kid may as well be wearing a nametag that says "Hello, my name is Dean Winchester." Charity means owing someone something or at least feeling like you do. 

He gets an idea. "Tell you what, kid. I have been thinking about getting some help around here. Need another set of hands. What do ya say to helping me rebuild the car yourself? No reason to get a job at the Gas-N-Sip when I need help around here." 

The kid lights up. "Yes, sir. I think that would be great." His face falls. "I don't have any experience . . . ." 

Dean waves him off. "Good. That means I don't have to break you of any bad habits."

The door to the garage opens and in walks Cas. Jack is asleep in the carrier on his chest, mouth open, his tiny chubby hand clenched in front of him. Cas is in an old Zeppelin t-shirt and jeans, hair sticking up at odd angles, feet bare. It's enough to make Dean's heart flutter. "Dean, now that the baby is down, I thought . . .." Cas cuts himself off. "Hello, I didn't realize we had a visitor. I'm Cas. Dean’s husband." 

Dean holds his breath, uncertain how this boy from Kansas will react to the news that Dean has a husband. He always holds his breath. Waits for the derision. The change in a person's eyes. Cas doesn't have the same fears. He is unapologetic. Heaven has a lot of faults, but nobody is getting beaten up for being gay up there. Hell, the angels don't even have genders. Not really. It's something they picked up from the humans. Hard to care much about sexual preferences when you don't have sex. Or the equipment for sex. Or romantic love. And you are all the same. From Dean's experience, most angels don't care even when they are borrowing someone else's equipment. It just isn't a thing. And that will drive Dean mad if he thinks about it too long, because you have all these people making other people feel like shit for the way they've always been, and they use religion to justify it when it's entirely a human-created concept.

So, Cas knows that humans can be shitty about this stuff, but it's in the same way that Dean knows Cas is millions of years old. Which is to say that he understands it to be true, but he can't really understand it in any real and meaningful way. Because he hasn't lived it. Not really. And Dean sometimes envies that. Wishes he could have just said:  _ You know what? I am attracted to men and women.  _ And it would have been no big deal. It didn't have to be A THING. But that isn’t how it works. Not now, anyway.

The kid is looking between the two of them, realization dawning on him, and Dean feels the curl of anxiety in his belly. 

Then the kid does something unexpected. He smiles. A big, lopsided, goofy grin. And the tension he is carrying falls away.  _ Oh.  _ Dean thinks.  _ I think we might have found at least one of the sources of conflict with dear old Dad.  _

"Danny." The kid says, holding out his hand. And Dean realizes he hasn't even asked the kid's name. 

Dean clears his throat. "Um, Danny here is going to be working in the shop part-time. After school. You know how I have been saying I need an extra set of hands." The lie comes out smoothly. 

Cas raises his eyebrows at Dean, but Dean just shrugs in a gesture that hopefully conveys:  _ I will explain later. Just go with it. _

And Cas picks up on it without hesitation because of course he does. Old habits and all that. They don't hunt anymore. Can't exactly run around ganking vamps with a baby carrier on your chest. But they are still a team. Cas smiles broadly at the kid. "I was just about to offer to make Dean some lunch. Are you hungry?"

*********

So things are good. D is over all the time. He even brought his boyfriend over last week. He looks at Dean like some sort of God. Asks him for advice as if Dean ever had his shit together at that age. He asked him how to ask a guy out and Dean nearly laughed out loud.  _ You just become his best friend and dance around it for over a decade. Easy as pie. _

The kid is learning quickly and Cas is ready to adopt him. Dean tries to grumble at him that they don't need another stray teenager around with Jody's girls visiting on and off all the time. But Cas doesn't buy it. 

Dean can't wait to see D's face when he turns the key today and the engine comes to life. He has earned it. 

So Dean thinks "this is nice." Like an idiot. And as if on cue, Dean hears a high pitched giggle and a squeal behind him. He turns to see Jack. He has crawled over to Dean’s toolbox and he has a screwdriver in his mouth. 

"Shit." Dean says. He runs to take the tool away from Jack, wrenching it from his fat little hands. His tiny face collapses and he lets out an indignant "waaaaaaaaah."

Dean looks around for Cas, but he isn't anywhere. "Cas?!" He yells.  _ How did Jack get in here? _

"DEAN!" He hears Cas's panicked voice through the door. "It's Jack. I can't find him."

"He's right . . . ." But Dean cuts himself off. Because the wail has gone silent and Jack has disappeared. 

He runs to find Cas. "He disappeared! How did he . . .?"

"His wings." Cas yelled. "He figured out how to use his wings." 

A giggle comes from the kitchen. "Jack? How did you get up there?" They hear Sam say. 

They scramble into the kitchen to find Jack holding the tube of puffs. They are his favorite snack, and Dean and Cas have to hide them on a high shelf or he won't eat anything else. He is shaking the tube and it is making a noise that he apparently finds delightful. He begins to bang the tube and it pops open. Puffs fly everywhere. Jack grabs a handful and shoves them into his mouth.

"Hey, buddy. You scared us." Dean says quietly. "Why don't you come on down and . . . " Jack disappears. Behind them, Miracle whines and Dean turns to see Jack lying next to him, hands tufted in his hair. 

Cas scoops Jack up. "Jack, you can't just . . . " Suddenly, he is holding empty air. 

A cry comes from down the hall. Eileen, wrapped in a towel and dripping brings a slightly sodden Jack back into the room. She hands him to Dean. "What the hell?" She signs. 

"Figured out his wings." Sam signs back. 

Dean is bouncing Jack around like he likes, pretending he is going to drop him and throwing him into the air to keep him entertained.

"We gotta contain him. And I don't think putting a baby in a flaming ring of holy oil is gonna cut it." Dean said. Jack squeals in delight as Dean turns him upside down. 

"Wards." Eileen suggests and Sam runs to ward the nursery. 

Jack disappears. "Dammit." Dean yells. 

They hear babbling down the hall. "Baaaaaw." Jack yells his version of "ball."

Dean and Cas take off down the hall. Jack is in an old storage room on the top shelf, holding a glass jar full of what appears to be eyes. "Baww!" Jack screams again. He drops the jar and it is only Cas's angelic reflexes that avert a disaster. Jack stands on unsteady legs and grabs an old leather book. He opens it and begins tearing out pages, giggling again. 

"Hey, little man, why don’t you come down and we'll get some milk." Dean says. The shelf is too high to reach, so he figures bribery is their best option. 

"Meep?" Jack asks. 

"Ice cold milk. Just for you." 

Jack appears in Dean's arms. He barely avoids dropping him. "Come on, bud. Let's get you some milk."

"Meep!" Jack says happily. 

******* 

They finally get him settled in the nursery where he can zip around and not hurt himself. Cas is stuck outside the doorway because of the warding, but Jack has worn himself out anyway. He is rubbing his eyes and yawning. His eyes droop heavily as he drinks from the bottle and he is out like a light by the time Dean burps him. Dean places him gently in the crib, grabs the monitor and joins everyone in the kitchen. 

"He's out." Dean says, sitting heavily in a chair. "What are we gonna do?" He directs the question at Cas, the only one of them with wings. 

Cas rubs his face. "I don't know. It isn't like it's come up before. Angels are never toddlers." 

It's probably the exhaustion. Or the stress. But Dean can't suppress a laugh. 

"Dean, I fail to see anything funny about this predicament." Cas says, narrowing his eyes at Dean.

"I'm sorry. It’s not funny. I just had this mental image of a tiny version of you squinting and wearing a trenchcoat." Dean sobers. "Okay, so ideas? We can't have him locked away in his nursery indefinitely."

"Well," Sam says holding up a book, "according to the lore there are only a few ways to keep an angel grounded. Holy oil, wards and sigils, clipping their wings . . . "

"We are not clipping Jack's wings." Cas interrupts.

Dean lays a steadying hand on Cas. Cas doesn't really talk about it. The damage to his own wings. Doesn't talk about his loss of flight. It's on the long list of  _ things we don’t mention.  _ But Dean knows it hurts him. And sometimes he catches a glimpse of it. The longing when he gets into Baby. Not all the time. Not even most of the time. But it's there sometimes and Dean wishes he had the words to make it better. 

They quickly dispose of the idea of a tattoo. There are sigils that could ground Jack, but they don't have a way to put them on him. Not in a way that isn't either too permanent or not permanent enough. There's a spell. Not a particular tough one. But it only lasts a few hours. It isn't practical to have to do it over and over. They dispose with grace removal without even discussing it. While removing Jack's powers would be safer for everyone, nobody can stomach the idea of taking away something so central to his being. Even if they could restore it later. 

Dean is feeling pretty hopeless when Jack's giggles come through the monitor. He has escaped his crib and he is chewing on a toy as he toddles unsteadily around the room.

Dean goes to the nursery and scoops him up. "Hey, dude. Did you have a good nap?" 

"Dada!" Jack squeals. "DADADADADA!"

Cas looks on from the doorway. "Baba!" Jack squeals at him. He gets up and tries to walk to Cas, but the wards keep him in the room. Jack frowns and keeps trying to get to Cas.

"Cas, you better . . . . Look, man, we will find a way. We always do." Cas nods miserably and walks down the hall. 

Jack whines but Dean distracts him with a ball. "Baaaaaw!" Jack screams happily.

Dean looks down at his hand. His ring is simple. It fits him. He thinks about the words inside, written in Enochian.  _ I love you. Always.  _ Dean had never thought he would marry. Never thought he would have this. Yet here he is, with a ring he never takes off. A callous formed against the metal. 

That's when it comes to him. "Cas! Sam!"

Cas, Sam and Eileen come running down the hall.

"I was looking at my wedding ring and it came to me! Handcuffs!"

Sam pulls a bitchface. "Dean, I am not sure I want to hear about the way you and Cas use handcuffs in your marriage." 

Dean rolls his eyes. "No, dude." Though Cas is giving him a look and his brain takes a minor detour.  _ Focus.  _ "I . . . um I meant the angel handcuffs. They had spellwork carved into them."

"You want to handcuff our child?" Cas asked, head tilting in confusion. 

"No, forget about the handcuffs. The point is that we could make jewelry for Jack that contains spellwork. Something we never take off." Dean says. 

Sam is nodding along now. "On it." He says. 

An hour later, Jack is wearing new anklets under his socks. If he is upset to lose his powers for now, he doesn't show it. Instead, he hugs his Baba and eats applesauce from a pouch. 

Two hours after that, D turns the key and the engine roars to life. He breaks into a grin, tears streaking down his face. Dean's heart nearly explodes. 

"You did it. Pops would be so excited." He tells Dean.

"We did it, kiddo." Dean says, slapping him on the back. "Now come on. That '68 Mustang isn't gonna restore itself." Dean turns away so D doesn't see the tears in his own eyes. 

That night, after a family meal (including D who has stuck around and spends the entire meal making faces at Jack) and a movie, Dean lays his head down on the pillow next to Cas and very intentionally does not think about how nice it is. 

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter was inspired by a series of Tumblr posts that I cannot locate despite the A+ search functions. So, if anyone has any of them, I am happy to link them.


End file.
